Link’s Not the Only One Who Plays the Ocarina

Sure, Link was okay at ocarina, but he was just a little kid. It’s pretty fun to watch someone who can really play the thing. Here’s ocarina diva Cris Gale playing the Koume and Kotake/Twinrova Theme from Ocarina of Time. You can find about more about Gale at her website, and get her album on…

Epic Kids Are a Paragon of Mass Effect Cosplay

These three kids are Preston Thorne’s, technical support manager for Epic Games, and they showed up at Dad’s office costume party in full Mass Effect regalia. Cliff Bleszinski, formerly of Epic, retweeted this out earlier with a “WOW,” and I concur. The stroller outfitted as the Normandy probably qualifies as a fifth cosplayer, but little…

This Halo iPhone Game Feels Like A Parody Of Itself

There are tacky advertisements. And then there’s Halo 4: King of the Hill Fueled by Mountain Dew (actual name), a new promotional iOS game that asks you to go to the store and scan in bags of Doritos and bottles of Mountain Dew in order to play. Let me repeat that. You have to scan…

How Do You Spell Addiction? L-E-T-T-E-R-P-R-E-S-S.

Word games? I love ‘em. Give me a jumble of letters and a grid and I’ll go to town. One great thing about the advent of smartphones is how they’ve ushered in a major re-think of the word game DNA. So, last week, when a neighbor mentioned that a new iOS word game was spreading…

King.com’s Saga Continues with Pet Rescue

Engorged with the heady success of Bubble Witch Saga and Candy Crush Saga, King.com adds another epic tale of level-arranged puzzles to Facebook with Pet Rescue Saga, a game that’s vaguely about rescuing pets. Mostly it’s about matching colored blocks, but there’s a twist-some of these colored blocks have pets on top of them. You…

I’m Getting Nervous Just Watching This A Machine For Pigs Halloween Trailer

In the Halloween trailer above released today by Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs developers Frictional Games, you’ll see the protagonist’s panting, nervous crawls through the indirect sequel to The Dark Descent. Oh, and our own Kirk Hamilton will be happy to see that you can lean around corners to scope out dangers. Of which you…

Show Us Your Video Game Halloween Costumes

You’ve spent all year figuring out a great get-up for All Hallow’s Eve and now the day is finally here. We want you to show us your Duke Nukems and your Altairs, Ezios and Connors. Head over to Kotaku’s official Facebook page and post your ensembles. We’ll be rounding up the best for a showcase…

A White Mage Pumpkin Casting ‘Blind’

Carved and sent in by Kotaku reader Cletus, who lost power last night and needed something to do with all of his knives. From Cletus: Probably should have done a black mage casting fire, but, i had this white mage casting blind as I carved a pumpkin in the dark (to be fair: by faint…

Check Out Pool Nation’s Fancy Balls

Launching today on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points, Pool Nation features some of the prettiest balls I’ve ever seen. It deserves better than a cheap balls pun.

If Only Real Steering Wheels Held iPads

I suppose having an iPad mounted to the steering wheel of my 95 Nissan Pathfinder would probably be some sort of distraction or something. I guess I’ll have to settle for the Kolos iPad Racing Wheel The Kolos iPad Racing Wheel is effectively a traditional racing wheel controller with a place to slot your iPad.…

A Note To Readers About a Story We Have Not Yet Covered

For the past week, there has been intensifying interest in the ethics of games journalism. This was prompted by a screencap that made the rounds featuring GTTV host Geoff Keighley giving interviews while flanked by Pepsi and Mountain Dew as well as by a column on Eurogamer by comedian and critic Robert Florence that critiqued…

Deadspin.com Updates: Greg Merson Is WSOP Main Event Champion After 12-Hour Marathon Session

You Can Start Tapping Curiosity’s Cube On November 7

Curiosity will launch early in the morning on November 7, developer Peter Molyneux announced on Twitter today. “Curiosity will be out on 7th November 2012 at 00:22PST 08:22UST,” Molyneux wrote. “The development has been a fascinating ride,release will be 10x fascinating.” Curiosity is the first experiment from Molyneux’s new studio, 22 Cans. The iOS app…

This Week’s Android Charts: GTA Triumphant

Would you look at that, good old Grand Theft Auto III topping off the paid Android games chart this week. It makes an old dog proud, which is weird as I am pretty sure only humans worked on the game (Rockstar Games management doesn’t count). Thanks to our temporary new format, this week’s top tens…

Collect a Bazillion Guns on the iPad in Borderlands Legends

Borderlands Legends, the iOS spin-off to Gearbox’s popular shooter, is now on the iTunes store for you to buy, if you’re an Apple person. Annoyingly, it’s not universal, so you’ll have to decide whether you want the $5 iPhone version or the $7 iPad version. Check the links for compatibility, but both work with recent…

Man Allegedly Charges $9,000 in Virtual Money to His Company, Ends Up Arrested

Over the weekend a Chinese Security guard was caught using company phones overnight to telecharge for virtual currency that can be used with video games. He spent about 60,000 RMB of the company’s money. The 23 year-old security guard from Anhui province, nicknamed “Xiao Zhu”, joined the company in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in February. He…

Check Out the Other Valkyria Chronicles Game That’s Never Left Japan

As it stands, Valkyria Chronicles 3 is perhaps the most infamous of last generation’s games to never get an international release. However, Valkyria Chronicles 3 isn’t the only Valkyria Chronicles game never to leave Japanese shores. Valkyria Chronicles D (the “D” stands for “Duel”) is a browser-based/iOS game released on July 26, 2012, in Japan.…

Here’s Freddie Wong’s Take on Hitman

Filmmaker Freddie Wong isn’t making a documentary about cleaning the pool here, but a Hitman promo clip. It’s a little over four minutes long and way better than the Hitman movie Hollywood churned out a few years ago. Hitman Absolution [Tumblr]

It’s a Real Shame That We Didn’t Get Valkyria Chronicles 3

Consider this a look back. Valkyria Chronicles 3 is one of the most infamous of last generation’s Japan-Only PSP titles. After the moderate success of the previous two games in the series around the world, it is surprising that the latest iteration never left Japan. But whatever the reason it was never picked up for…

This Christmas, Japan Is Dreaming of Pepsi. White Pepsi.

Pepsi in Japan is different. Every summer, Pepsi Japan releases peculiar flavors, whether that is Salty Watermelon or Ice Cucumber-or heck, even shiso as well as red bean flavored cola. This winter, Pepsi Japan is releasing another curio: Pepsi White. In the 2008, Japan got a Pepsi White, but it was yogurt flavored. This year’s…